The Daily Startup: Healthline Media Raises $95 Million

Healthline Media Inc.has raised $95 million from Summit Partners to compete with the likes of WebMD in the market for consumer-health information, Brian Gormley reports for Dow Jones VentureWire. The company was incubated last decade by holding company Healthline Networks. The holding company’s media group launched Healthline.com in 2006. The site provided health information to consumers through content licensed from third parties. The company relaunched in 2012 with original content. With the new funding, Healthline is spinning off from Healthline Networks and will be independent.

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Zymeworks Inc.has raised $61.5 million in Series A financing ahead of plans to launch clinical studies later this year for new types of antibody drugs that could help cancer patients who have few treatment options. New investors BDC Capital and Lumira Capital led the round, which included new investors Brace Pharma Capital, Merlin Nexus, Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund, Perceptive Advisors and Teralys Capital. Returning investors included Celgene, CTI Life Sciences Fund, Eli Lilly & Co. and Fonds de solidarité FTQ.

Big Know Inc.has raised $3 million in Series A venture funding to deliver online courses, primarily about health and well-being, on behalf of corporations. LFE Capital led the Series A investment, joined by individual investors.

Brandon Capital Partners, an Australian life-science investor, announced it is expanding its operations into the U.S. with the opening of a San Francisco Bay Area office. The firm also announced that J. Leighton Read joined as venture partner and head of the new Palo Alto, Calif., office.

Clearside Biomedical Inc., which aims to treat blinding diseases through technology designed to overcome a challenge to delivering drugs into the eye, has publicly filed for its initial public offering.

Zai Lab Ltd., a Chinese biopharmaceutical company, said it has secured more than $100 million in its Series B financing. The investment was led by Advantech Capital and included OrbiMed Advisors. The existing investors Qiming Ventures, Sequoia Capital China and TF Capital all participated.

Bristol-Myers Squibbagreed to buy the global rights to Dual Therapeutics LLC’s cancer treatment. Dual Therapeutics, whose investors include BioMotiv and Partnership Fund for New York City, is developing a cancer therapeutic that more effectively targets cancer cells and spares normal cells.

(VentureWire is a daily newsletter with comprehensive analysis of all the investments, deals and personnel moves involving startups and their venture backers. For a two-week trial, visit http://on.wsj.com/DJPEVCNews, scroll to the bottom and click “try for free.”)

ELSEWHERE AROUND THE WEB:

3-D Printed Insole Maker Lays Off Staff.Sols Systems Inc., a startup that makes 3D-printed shoe inserts under the name SOLS, has laid off 14 people, which was 20% of its staff, according to tech news blog TechCrunch. The company has been backed by investors that include Founders Fund, Lux Capital, Melo7 Tech Ventures and Tenaya Capital.

Data-Analytics Startup Mixpanel Lays Off Workers. Data-analytics startup Mixpanel Inc. has laid off 18 people from its 230 employees, according to VentureBeat. The layoffs were primarily in the company's sales department. The company was valued at $865 million in its funding in December 2014. Investors in the company have included Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, Yammer CEO David Sacks, Max Levchin and Michael Birch.

Y Combinator Announces Management Changes. Startup accelerator Y Combinatorhas announced management changes, including that Paul Buchheit, the creator of Gmail, will be taking over as the head of the main accelerator program. The announcement was made in a blog post by Sam Altman, who took over as president of Y Combinator from co-founder Paul Graham. Mr. Altman will split his time across the accelerator's three investment programs, YC Fellowship, YC Core and YC Continuity.